Research Report

Bangladesh’s industrial future is being shaped by a quiet but urgent challenge: how to keep its vast network of small and medium enterprises competitive in a world that increasingly demands low-carbon production. These businesses power jobs, exports, and local economies, yet remain heavily dependent on fossil-fuel-based electricity, outdated machinery, and fragmented support systems locking in both high emissions and rising costs. As global markets tighten climate requirement

This report investigates how the rapid rise in Dhaka’s vehicle population is shaping the city’s worsening air quality, using a decade of monthly data and advanced time-series models to untangle both short- and long-term effects. Drawing on datasets from BRTA, DoE, and BMD, it shows that motor vehicles and cargo transport are major long-run drivers of pollution, while winter weather patterns sharply intensify particulate concentration. The analysis reveals that rainfall and mo